Damian Thompson is Editor of Telegraph Blogs and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph. He was once described by The Church Times as a "blood-crazed ferret". He is on Twitter as HolySmoke. His latest book is The Fix: How addiction is taking over your world. He also writes about classical music for The Spectator.

Benedict XVI and the child abuse crisis: the Telegraph's view

The Daily Telegraph's editorial verdict today on the Pope and the child abuse scandals haunting the Church makes uncomfortable reading for Catholics – and for those in the media who have lazily or maliciously attempted to place the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the centre of the cover-ups:

In his Easter address yesterday Pope Benedict XVI made no direct mention of the row that has engulfed the Catholic church over child abuse. In truth, we know what he thinks of the scandal from his pastoral letter to Irish Catholics a fortnight ago. In a heartfelt statement of contrition, Pope Benedict spoke of “the shame and remorse that we all feel” towards the victims of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests dating back decades: “You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry…your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated”.

The apology was sincere and absolutely merited by the monstrous nature of the betrayal. The Pope spoke from the heart because he has been prominent in the battle to expose abusers and those who have protected them. It is unfortunate that the Vatican has not been able to maintain that tone. On Good Friday the Pope’s personal preacher, Father Raniero Cantalamessa, likened the criticism being levelled at the Catholic Church over child abuse to the “collective violence suffered by the Jews”. He later apologised. Meanwhile, the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, said during Easter Mass that the controversy amounted to “petty gossip”.

In is perhaps understandable for the Vatican to react so defensively but it is hardly productive. Closer to home, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, yesterday showed far greater sensitivity, talking of the church’s shame while “acknowledging our guilt and our need for forgiveness”. Repairing the damage caused by the child abuse scandal will be a long process but cannot even start until the Vatican demonstrates the same determination to root out abuse – and the same penitence – as Pope Benedict himself has shown.

I don't think you can say fairer than that. My own thoughts:

1. The betrayal of the innocent by a small minority of Catholic priests and a much larger proportion of Catholic bishops and bureaucrats was truly monstrous. Pope Benedict XVI was right to acknowledge the Church's deep shame. His predecessor should have done so.

2. Although the Pope may not have been vigilant enough when he was Archbishop of Munich, once he was in the Vatican he was disgusted to discover the scale of the crimes of predator priests – and fought a sometime lonely battle against complacent colleagues, from whom he eventually had to wrest authority to deal with canonical aspects of these cases in 2001. After that, their prosecution was speeded up. No wonder, since the Italian monsignori who previously dealt with them had spent most of the day plotting and stuffing their faces in their favourite trattorie.

3. Benedict XVI is still not well served by the people around him. Did no one bother to check what the papal preacher was going to say on the supremely sensitive subject of child abuse in his sermon to the Holy Father? Did no one think to suggest that, maybe, this might not be the moment to make misleading analogies with the persecution of Jews? And what more evidence do we need that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, one of the useless old guard, should be put out to pasture in a very obscure country diocese?

4. As the Telegraph says, it's time for the Vatican to show the same "determination to root out abuse" that Benedict has manifested. For that to happen, the Pope must act ruthlessly, not least against Vatican officials. Anyone know the Latin for P45?